


Gardenia, Bloodstained

by MalpaisQuanta



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: AU where Byleth and Hapi both live in Abyss, Aelfric is probably OOC, Byleth is not a teacher here, F/M, Hanahaki Disease, tw for blood and throwing up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-28
Updated: 2020-04-28
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:34:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23899093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MalpaisQuanta/pseuds/MalpaisQuanta
Summary: To the people of Fódlan, Hanahaki disease was a curious thing. People would randomly become afflicted with it, and would be stuck coughing up petals and flowers until they either confessed their feelings and had them returned, or were rejected and went to see a healer to have it removed.Hapi has Hanahaki disease. And she would rather learn to live with it or be rid of it than admit her feelings to Byleth and make their friendship awkward.
Relationships: Hapi/My Unit | Byleth
Comments: 2
Kudos: 22





	Gardenia, Bloodstained

Life sucked when you couldn’t even sigh without drawing a bunch of terrible monsters to you. When someone made a bad joke, you couldn’t sigh at them, not unless you wanted them being eaten to be the punchline. You couldn’t really get close to anyone, because if you forgot and sighed, they’d be turned into a beast’s midday snack.

But it really sucked when you started to cough up bloody petals everywhere. Hapi knew what Hanahaki disease was, Elfie had suffered from it for years before the Archbishop got fed up and cured it with a spell of some kind.

Thorny feeling in the chest? Yep. Flowers stuck in her throat? Yup. Sympathetic looks from everyone who saw her coughing? Obviously.

But the Archbishop was very busy and probably wouldn’t have time for her. None of the knights would help either, if they found out they’d probably just shove her further into Abyss and pretend she was fine until it eased up a few months later. No, Hapi would rather leave it be. She’d learn to live with it until it could be removed. She managed with her curse, she could handle a few flowers.

That was her plan until the reason she had the disease noticed it.

“You too?”

“Yep. Just waiting until Lady Rhea can fix it.” Hapi wiped the blood off her mouth and picked up one of the petals to look at. Red gardenia petals, a different shade to the blood around it. Of course her illness would be ironic.

“That spell isn’t reversible.” Next to her, Byleth shook his head. “Wouldn’t it be easier to tell them?”

“Nope. If they don’t like me, they’ll feel bad for me. I’d rather just be rid of it.” Blood stained grey almost as bad as it did white. Explaining where it came from to anyone else would either raise questions or make them start guessing who she was in love with.

Not Byleth. A resident of Abyss like she was, only at the Archbishop’s request rather than to keep people safe from him. He listened, he cared. Outside of her fellow Wolves, he was the only one Hapi could really call a friend. Someone who was actually reliable.

Ugh. Love. It was so annoying.

…

The inhabitants of Fódlan made a big deal out of the illness. People would gossip about who had it, who they could be in love with. They’d push the people they suspected together, which more often than not led to awkward moments when they found out it wasn’t actually them. Others would be turned down, and they’d have to go see a healer and pay a lot of gold to get it fixed.

The students at Garreg Mach could get theirs cured for free. The same offer was extended to the residents of Abyss after Aelfric was cured of the disease. Byleth had witnessed people after they’d been administered to. They’d stop caring about whoever it was they had loved, which meant all too often, people would fall apart because one person no longer cared for the other. He’d seen it happen far too many times for him to be comfortable with how blasé Hapi was towards getting rid of it.

Hapi was naturally apathetic. He could understand why she’d just want to rid herself of those feelings without ever trying to admit them first, but if he was being honest, he felt she was rushing into it.

So he tried to convince her to tell them first. She wouldn’t tell him who she felt that way for, but she explained why to him.

“If I get rid of it, it’s gone for good. It won’t bother anyone or me again. If I tell them, then they’ll have to turn me down. I’d rather not, Chatterbox.” She smiled slightly at her accidental rhyme.

“You do know that the spell will make you not feel anything towards whoever you liked?” At Hapi’s widening eyes, it became clear to him that she hadn’t considered that. “If you want to remove it, you can, but please, think about it before you decide to do it.”

Hapi knew what it would cost to remove them, but it had really sunk in until Byleth said it out loud. The feelings were worrying, sure, because she didn’t want him to feel bad because he didn’t like her that way. But losing everything she felt towards him? Just to not deal with a few petals?

She’d need to seek out advice, from someone other than the guy causing it.

“I am glad you came to me about this, Hapi.” Aelfric smiled as he set a cup of tea down in front of Hapi. “Hanahaki removal should only truly be considered if you know they don’t feel the same way as you.”

“Yeah, I figured that.” Gosh, what was with everyone repeating the same advice over and over again? For all the mages in Abyss and on the surface, no one had any other solutions than to either remove it or confess. “What about you? Why’d you get it removed?”

“The woman I loved…” Aelfric sipped at his own tea for a moment, as though he was gathering his thoughts. “She passed away a long time ago. The flowers still remained, even after she left us.”

“It doesn’t stay gone?”

“It does not. Hanahaki can only be removed for good by magic or the victim’s feelings being returned.” Hapi looked down at her tea as Elfie continued to ramble on about how long the procedure to remove it lasted for, how long it would take before he got used to not having to clean up petals anymore. She knew all this already, Elfie wasn’t telling her anything new here. She’d just hoped there was some other solution than either ignoring it or getting it cured, but other than admitting how she felt, Byleth feeling the same and him promptly getting carried away by a giant bird because she forgot about her curse, there didn’t seem to be another way out of this. Drat.

“Have you spoken to Byleth about this?” Aelfric’s smile took on a teasing edge. “I think he might be of more help to you than I can be.”

“I have. He reminded me that I’d stop caring for whoever I liked. That’s why I came to you.”

“He did? Perhaps you should speak to him again.” And with that magnificent display of a lack of tact, or subtlety, Aelfric returned to his tea, leaving Hapi to roll her eyes and drink her own.

…

After that, Hapi tried to go about her days without going to the Archbishop to fix it. She didn’t want to lose all the feelings, so she figured she could manage with it like she did most of the things in her life.

She succeeded, mostly. Up until she found herself coughing up more bloody flower blooms into a bucket, Byleth knelt next to her with a hand on her back. “Easy, Hapi. Get it all out.”

“I know.” Hapi’s next retort was cut off as she hacked up another load of petals into the bucket. “It’ll stop soon. It always does.” Still red gardenia petals. As always.

“Did you try talking to Aelfric about it?”

The surge of petals having finally subsided, Hapi could look up at Byleth without worrying about staining his outfit with her blood. “Yep. He’s the one who convinced me to try and live with it.”

“What changed your mind?”  
  
“Well, whoever this person is, they’re a good friend to me.” Byleth’s face was difficult to read at the best of times, but she swore he looked relieved. Or confused. Did it matter? She was getting distracted, wasn’t she? “It won’t go away on its own. If I tell who I like, they’ll either won’t feel the same or they will and they’ll end up in danger.”

Byleth didn’t answer. Hapi forced herself back to her feet, shaky legs making her stagger back a bit before Byleth caught her arm. “Thanks.”

“What if there was a way to negate your condition?” Hapi could see from Byleth’s eyes that his mind was whirling. ”A magical pendant or something? Would you be willing to admit how you feel?”  
  
“Sure. But there isn’t one anywhere I’ve looked, so don’t bother. Really.” Too late, Hapi could already see Byleth fishing something out of his cloak’s pocket. “What’cha got, Chatterbox?”

“We just finished it last night. Turn around.” Hapi did so, and felt the cold metal of the pendant settle where she’d used to wear her chains until recently. “There. If it works, you should feel some sort of cooling sensation in your body.”

And she did. She felt it pulse out from where the pendant was gently resting against her collarbone, running down her body, bouncing from the ends of her fingertips back up her arms. “I do. But what is it?”

“It’s supposed to be an enchantment that wards off monsters. You shouldn’t be able to summon beasts anymore.”

She what now? “It… wards off monsters? So it negates my curse?”

“Yeah. You should be free now.” She was free? She was free, she was free! “So go tell them.” Oh yeah, she still had the flower thing to take care of as well, but for now…

“Thank you, Byleth. Seriously.” Hapi turned around and smiled at him, a real, wide smile that actually made him smile properly as well. “And I will.”

“Good.”

“Yup.” When Hapi didn’t move, Byleth’s smile faded slightly. “What?”

“You, uh…” Byleth scratched his head. “You’re looking at me funny, Hapi.”

Hapi coughed, less violently than before, but still enough for a few petals to fall out. “Am I?” she asked, wiping her face again. “Well, I’m happy- I mean, I’m Hapi, but-“ She glared at Byleth as he chuckled at her accidental pun. Might as well get it out now, so she could just go hide somewhere when he didn’t feel that way. “You’d probably be too if the person you liked could cure both your problems.”

She decided that no matter how awkward things got because of this, that was worth seeing Byleth’s stone face just crack like B holding an egg. “What? Hapi, did you just-“

“Yeah, it’s you. Happy now?”

“I, well, I’m not Hapi-“ By the goddess, she was already regretting this! “-but I am happy, yes.”

“…I knew you didn’t feel that way.” She was right, as always, and now she’d probably ruined a perfectly good friendship because she thought he’d feel the same. “Sorry, Chatterbox.”

“No, no!” There went Byleth’s composure again. “I do-uh, I mean, I like you too.” Really now? She didn’t want to think Byleth was just saying that for the sake of it but- no, wait, never mind.

The thorny feeling in her chest was starting to fade away. She’d heard that only happened if the other person’s feelings were genuine, which meant that Byleth actually felt that way? Shocking.

“Oh.”

“What?”

“It’s… fading away?” She didn’t feel like something was stabbing her throat anymore, or her chest. “You really do feel the same?”

“Of course I do.”

Huh. That was unexpected. “Oh. Wow.” She coughed again, this time without any flowers spilling from her mouth. “I was not expecting that, what with me being… well, me.”

“Why not?”

“Never mind. You feel the same way. Come on.” Hapi walked over and grabbed Byleth’s hand. “I need to tell you about Elfie. He’s less subtle than Coco in a choir.”

“Wait, so you’re cured? Like that?”  
“Apparently. Magic is weird like that.”

“You’re telling me…”


End file.
